diff --git a/ankiqt/config.py b/ankiqt/config.py
index 2b3e6d26e..90f667a32 100644
--- a/ankiqt/config.py
+++ b/ankiqt/config.py
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ class Config(dict):
             'showStudyOptions': False,
             'showStudyStats': True,
             'showCardTimer': True,
+            'standaloneWindows': True,
             'extraNewCards': 5,
             'randomizeOnCram': True,
             'created': time.time(),
diff --git a/ankiqt/ui/addcards.py b/ankiqt/ui/addcards.py
index 31f98e13c..40497f545 100644
--- a/ankiqt/ui/addcards.py
+++ b/ankiqt/ui/addcards.py
@@ -22,7 +22,11 @@ class FocusButton(QPushButton):
 class AddCards(QDialog):
 
     def __init__(self, parent):
-        QDialog.__init__(self, parent, Qt.Window)
+        if parent.config['standaloneWindows']:
+            windParent = None
+        else:
+            windParent = parent
+        QDialog.__init__(self, windParent, Qt.Window)
         self.parent = parent
         self.config = parent.config
         self.dialog = ankiqt.forms.addcards.Ui_AddCards()
diff --git a/ankiqt/ui/cardlist.py b/ankiqt/ui/cardlist.py
index 31327983a..0486825b9 100644
--- a/ankiqt/ui/cardlist.py
+++ b/ankiqt/ui/cardlist.py
@@ -278,7 +278,11 @@ class StatusDelegate(QItemDelegate):
 class EditDeck(QMainWindow):
 
     def __init__(self, parent):
-        QMainWindow.__init__(self, parent)
+        if parent.config['standaloneWindows']:
+            windParent = None
+        else:
+            windParent = parent
+        QMainWindow.__init__(self, windParent)
         self.parent = parent
         self.deck = self.parent.deck
         self.config = parent.config
@@ -412,8 +416,7 @@ class EditDeck(QMainWindow):
             self.sortKey = ("field", self.sortFields[idx-9])
         self.rebuildSortIndex(self.sortKey)
         self.sortIndex = idx
-        if self.deck.getInt('sortIndex') != idx:
-            self.deck.setVar('sortIndex', idx)
+        self.deck.setVar('sortIndex', idx)
         self.model.sortKey = self.sortKey
         self.model.updateHeader()
         if refresh:
@@ -499,6 +502,8 @@ class EditDeck(QMainWindow):
         self.updateSearch()
 
     def updateSearch(self, force=True):
+        if self.parent.inDbHandler:
+            return
         idx = self.dialog.tableView.currentIndex()
         row = idx.row()
         self.model.searchStr = unicode(self.dialog.filterEdit.text())
diff --git a/ankiqt/ui/deckproperties.py b/ankiqt/ui/deckproperties.py
index d5cd6ae88..cf779ad22 100644
--- a/ankiqt/ui/deckproperties.py
+++ b/ankiqt/ui/deckproperties.py
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ class DeckProperties(QDialog):
             v = float(self.dialog.delay2.text())
             self.updateField(self.d, 'delay2', v)
             v = int(self.dialog.failedCardMax.text())
-            self.updateField(self.d, 'failedCardMax', max(v, 5))
+            self.updateField(self.d, 'failedCardMax', v)
         except ValueError:
             pass
         # hour shift
diff --git a/ankiqt/ui/graphs.py b/ankiqt/ui/graphs.py
index dc23a0a3f..66062c0cf 100644
--- a/ankiqt/ui/graphs.py
+++ b/ankiqt/ui/graphs.py
@@ -42,9 +42,10 @@ class AnkiFigureCanvas (FigureCanvas):
 
 class AdjustableFigure(QWidget):
 
-    def __init__(self, config, name, figureFunc, choices=None):
+    def __init__(self, parent, name, figureFunc, choices=None):
         QWidget.__init__(self)
-        self.config = config
+        self.parent = parent
+        self.config = parent.config
         self.name = name
         self.vbox = QVBoxLayout()
         self.vbox.setSpacing(2)
@@ -75,6 +76,8 @@ class AdjustableFigure(QWidget):
         self.vbox.addLayout(self.hbox)
 
     def updateFigure(self):
+        if self.parent.inDbHandler:
+            return
         self.updateTimer = None
         self.setUpdatesEnabled(False)
         idx = self.vbox.indexOf(self.figureCanvas)
@@ -184,43 +187,43 @@ class GraphWindow(object):
         self.diag.show()
 
     def setupGraphs(self):
-        nextDue = AdjustableFigure(self.parent.config, 'due', self.dg.nextDue, self.range)
+        nextDue = AdjustableFigure(self.parent, 'due', self.dg.nextDue, self.range)
         nextDue.addWidget(QLabel(_("<h1>Due</h1>")))
         self.vbox.addWidget(nextDue)
         self.widgets.append(nextDue)
 
-        workload = AdjustableFigure(self.parent.config, 'reps', self.dg.workDone, self.range)
+        workload = AdjustableFigure(self.parent, 'reps', self.dg.workDone, self.range)
         workload.addWidget(QLabel(_("<h1>Reps</h1>")))
         self.vbox.addWidget(workload)
         self.widgets.append(workload)
 
-        times = AdjustableFigure(self.parent.config, 'times', self.dg.timeSpent, self.range)
+        times = AdjustableFigure(self.parent, 'times', self.dg.timeSpent, self.range)
         times.addWidget(QLabel(_("<h1>Review Time</h1>")))
         self.vbox.addWidget(times)
         self.widgets.append(times)
 
-        added = AdjustableFigure(self.parent.config, 'added', self.dg.addedRecently, self.range)
+        added = AdjustableFigure(self.parent, 'added', self.dg.addedRecently, self.range)
         added.addWidget(QLabel(_("<h1>Added</h1>")))
         self.vbox.addWidget(added)
         self.widgets.append(added)
 
-        answered = AdjustableFigure(self.parent.config, 'answered', lambda *args: apply(
+        answered = AdjustableFigure(self.parent, 'answered', lambda *args: apply(
             self.dg.addedRecently, args + ('firstAnswered',)), self.range)
         answered.addWidget(QLabel(_("<h1>First Answered</h1>")))
         self.vbox.addWidget(answered)
         self.widgets.append(answered)
 
-        cumDue = AdjustableFigure(self.parent.config, 'cum', self.dg.cumulativeDue, self.range)
+        cumDue = AdjustableFigure(self.parent, 'cum', self.dg.cumulativeDue, self.range)
         cumDue.addWidget(QLabel(_("<h1>Cumulative Due</h1>")))
         self.vbox.addWidget(cumDue)
         self.widgets.append(cumDue)
 
-        interval = AdjustableFigure(self.parent.config, 'interval', self.dg.intervalPeriod, self.range)
+        interval = AdjustableFigure(self.parent, 'interval', self.dg.intervalPeriod, self.range)
         interval.addWidget(QLabel(_("<h1>Intervals</h1>")))
         self.vbox.addWidget(interval)
         self.widgets.append(interval)
 
-        eases = AdjustableFigure(self.parent.config, 'eases', self.dg.easeBars)
+        eases = AdjustableFigure(self.parent, 'eases', self.dg.easeBars)
         eases.addWidget(QLabel(_("<h1>Eases</h1>")))
         self.vbox.addWidget(eases)
         self.widgets.append(eases)
diff --git a/ankiqt/ui/importing.py b/ankiqt/ui/importing.py
index 753b80609..be620426e 100644
--- a/ankiqt/ui/importing.py
+++ b/ankiqt/ui/importing.py
@@ -134,6 +134,8 @@ class ImportDialog(QDialog):
         txt = (
             _("Importing complete. %(num)d facts imported from %(file)s.\n") %
             {"num": self.importer.total, "file": os.path.basename(self.file)})
+        self.dialog.groupBox.setShown(False)
+        self.dialog.buttonBox.button(QDialogButtonBox.Close).setFocus()
         if self.importer.log:
             txt += _("Log of import:\n") + "\n".join(self.importer.log)
         self.dialog.status.setText(txt)
diff --git a/ankiqt/ui/main.py b/ankiqt/ui/main.py
index 4c33536d8..5b03e7c2b 100644
--- a/ankiqt/ui/main.py
+++ b/ankiqt/ui/main.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ from PyQt4.QtGui import *
 from anki import DeckStorage
 from anki.errors import *
 from anki.sound import hasSound, playFromText, clearAudioQueue
-from anki.utils import addTags, deleteTags, parseTags
+from anki.utils import addTags, deleteTags, parseTags, canonifyTags
 from anki.media import rebuildMediaDir
 from anki.db import OperationalError
 from anki.stdmodels import BasicModel
@@ -685,8 +685,7 @@ To upgrade an old deck, download Anki 0.9.8.7."""))
 
     def onClose(self):
         if self.inMainWindow():
-            cramming = self.deck is not None and self.deck.name() == "cram"
-            self.saveAndClose(hideWelcome=cramming)
+            self.saveAndClose(hideWelcome=self.isCramming())
             if cramming:
                 self.loadRecent(0)
         else:
@@ -830,14 +829,17 @@ To upgrade an old deck, download Anki 0.9.8.7."""))
             self.updateRecentFiles(file)
             return True
 
-    def onUnsavedTimer(self):
+    def showToolTip(self, msg):
+        t = QTimer(self)
+        t.setSingleShot(True)
+        t.start(200)
+        self.connect(t, SIGNAL("timeout()"),
+                     lambda msg=msg: self._showToolTip(msg))
+
+    def _showToolTip(self, msg):
         QToolTip.showText(
-            self.mainWin.statusbar.mapToGlobal(QPoint(0, -100)),
-            _("""\
-<h1>Unsaved Deck</h1>
-Careful. You're editing an unsaved Deck.<br>
-Choose File -> Save to start autosaving<br>
-your deck."""))
+            self.mainWin.statusbar.mapToGlobal(QPoint(0, -40)),
+            msg)
 
     def save(self, required=False):
         if not self.deck.path:
@@ -845,10 +847,11 @@ your deck."""))
                 # backed in memory, make sure it's saved
                 return self.onSaveAs()
             else:
-                t = QTimer(self)
-                t.setSingleShot(True)
-                t.start(200)
-                self.connect(t, SIGNAL("timeout()"), self.onUnsavedTimer)
+                self.showToolTip(_("""\
+<h1>Unsaved Deck</h1>
+Careful. You're editing an unsaved Deck.<br>
+Choose File -> Save to start autosaving<br>
+your deck."""))
             return
         if not self.deck.modifiedSinceSave():
             return True
@@ -1036,7 +1039,6 @@ your deck."""))
 
     def updateStudyStats(self):
         wasReached = self.deck.sessionLimitReached()
-        self.deck.sessionStartTime = 0
         sessionColour = '<font color=#0000ff>%s</font>'
         cardColour = '<font color=#0000ff>%s</font>'
         if not wasReached:
@@ -1155,8 +1157,21 @@ day = :d""", d=yesterday)
                int(self.mainWin.questionLimit.text()))
         except (ValueError, OverflowError):
             pass
-        uf(self.deck, 'newCardOrder',
-           self.mainWin.newCardOrder.currentIndex())
+        ncOrd = self.mainWin.newCardOrder.currentIndex()
+        if self.deck.newCardOrder != ncOrd:
+            if self.deck.newCardOrder == 0 and ncOrd != 0:
+                # random to non-random
+                self.deck.startProgress()
+                self.deck.updateProgress(_("Ordering..."))
+                self.deck.orderNewCards()
+                self.deck.finishProgress()
+            elif self.deck.newCardOrder != 0 and ncOrd == 0:
+                # non-random to random
+                self.deck.startProgress()
+                self.deck.updateProgress(_("Randomizing..."))
+                self.deck.randomizeNewCards()
+                self.deck.finishProgress()
+        uf(self.deck, 'newCardOrder', ncOrd)
         uf(self.deck, 'newCardSpacing',
            self.mainWin.newCardScheduling.currentIndex())
         uf(self.deck, 'revCardOrder',
@@ -1315,11 +1330,11 @@ day = :d""", d=yesterday)
 
     def onMark(self, toggled):
         if self.currentCard.hasTag("Marked"):
-            self.currentCard.fact.tags = deleteTags(
-                "Marked", self.currentCard.fact.tags)
+            self.currentCard.fact.tags = canonifyTags(deleteTags(
+                "Marked", self.currentCard.fact.tags))
         else:
-            self.currentCard.fact.tags = addTags(
-                "Marked", self.currentCard.fact.tags)
+            self.currentCard.fact.tags = canonifyTags(addTags(
+                "Marked", self.currentCard.fact.tags))
         self.currentCard.fact.setModified(textChanged=True)
         self.deck.updateFactTags([self.currentCard.fact.id])
         self.deck.setModified()
@@ -1327,7 +1342,8 @@ day = :d""", d=yesterday)
     def onSuspend(self):
         undo = _("Suspend")
         self.deck.setUndoStart(undo)
-        self.currentCard.fact.tags = addTags("Suspended", self.currentCard.fact.tags)
+        self.currentCard.fact.tags = canonifyTags(
+            addTags("Suspended", self.currentCard.fact.tags))
         self.currentCard.fact.setModified(textChanged=True)
         self.deck.updateFactTags([self.currentCard.fact.id])
         for card in self.currentCard.fact.cards:
@@ -1358,10 +1374,19 @@ day = :d""", d=yesterday)
     ##########################################################################
 
     def onAddCard(self):
+        if self.isCramming():
+            ui.utils.showInfo(_("""\
+You are currently cramming. Please close this deck first."""))
+            return
         ui.dialogs.get("AddCards", self)
 
     def onEditDeck(self):
         ui.dialogs.get("CardList", self)
+        if self.isCramming():
+            self.showToolTip(_("""\
+<h1>Cramming</h1>
+You are currently cramming. Any edits you make to this deck
+will be lost when you close the deck."""))
 
     def onEditCurrent(self):
         self.moveToState("editCurrentFact")
@@ -1397,7 +1422,10 @@ day = :d""", d=yesterday)
     ##########################################################################
 
     def onImport(self):
-        import ui.importing
+        if self.isCramming():
+            ui.utils.showInfo(_("""\
+You are currently cramming. Please close this deck first."""))
+            return
         if self.deck is None:
             self.onNew()
         ui.importing.ImportDialog(self)
@@ -1421,8 +1449,11 @@ day = :d""", d=yesterday)
         e.exportInto(path)
         return (e, path)
 
+    def isCramming(self):
+        return self.deck is not None and self.deck.name() == "cram"
+
     def onCram(self, cardIds=[]):
-        if self.deck.name() == "cram":
+        if self.isCramming():
             ui.utils.showInfo(
                 _("Already cramming. Please close this deck first."))
             return
@@ -1442,7 +1473,7 @@ day = :d""", d=yesterday)
             ui.utils.showInfo(_("No cards matched the provided tags."))
             return
         if self.config['randomizeOnCram']:
-            n = 5
+            n = 3
         else:
             n = 2
         p = ui.utils.ProgressWin(self, n, 0, _("Cram"))
@@ -1462,22 +1493,11 @@ day = :d""", d=yesterday)
         self.deck.easyIntervalMax = 0.25
         self.deck.newCardOrder = 0
         self.deck.syncName = None
+        p.update()
+        self.deck.updateDynamicIndices()
         if self.config['randomizeOnCram']:
             p.update(_("Randomizing..."))
-            self.deck.s.statement(
-                "create temporary table idmap (old, new, primary key (old))")
-            self.deck.s.statement(
-                "insert into idmap select id, random() from facts")
-            self.deck.s.statement(
-                "update facts set id = (select new from idmap where old = id)")
-            p.update()
-            self.deck.s.statement(
-                "update cards set factId = (select new from idmap where old = factId)")
-            p.update()
-            self.deck.s.statement(
-                "update fields set factId = (select new from idmap where old = factId)")
-            p.update()
-            self.deck.updateDynamicIndices()
+            self.deck.randomizeNewCards()
         self.reset()
         p.finish()
 
@@ -1645,6 +1665,7 @@ it to your friends.
                                        onlyMerge, self.sourcesToCheck)
         self.connect(self.syncThread, SIGNAL("setStatus"), self.setSyncStatus)
         self.connect(self.syncThread, SIGNAL("showWarning"), self.showSyncWarning)
+        self.connect(self.syncThread, SIGNAL("noSyncResponse"), self.noSyncResponse)
         self.connect(self.syncThread, SIGNAL("moveToState"), self.moveToState)
         self.connect(self.syncThread, SIGNAL("noMatchingDeck"), self.selectSyncDeck)
         self.connect(self.syncThread, SIGNAL("syncClockOff"), self.syncClockOff)
@@ -1719,6 +1740,11 @@ it to your friends.
         ui.utils.showWarning(text, self)
         self.setStatus("")
 
+    def noSyncResponse(self):
+        self.showToolTip(_("""\
+<h1>Sync Failed</h1>
+Couldn't contact Anki Online. Please check your internet connection."""))
+
     def openSyncProgress(self):
         self.syncProgressDialog = QProgressDialog(_("Syncing Media..."),
                                                   "", 0, 0, self)
diff --git a/ankiqt/ui/status.py b/ankiqt/ui/status.py
index 83b6af118..646df8815 100644
--- a/ankiqt/ui/status.py
+++ b/ankiqt/ui/status.py
@@ -64,13 +64,16 @@ class StatusView(object):
             shown = True
         self.progressBar.setShown(shown)
         self.retentionBar.setShown(shown)
-        self.timer.setShown(shown)
         self.etaText.setShown(shown)
         self.remText.setShown(shown)
         self.sep1.setShown(shown)
         self.sep2.setShown(shown)
-        self.sep3.setShown(shown)
         self.statusbar.hideOrShow()
+        # timer has a separate option
+        if not self.main.config['showTimer']:
+            shown = False
+        self.timer.setShown(shown)
+        self.sep3.setShown(shown)
 
     # Setup and teardown
     ##########################################################################
@@ -130,8 +133,6 @@ class StatusView(object):
         self.timer.setText("00:00")
         self.addWidget(self.timer)
         self.redraw()
-        if not self.main.config['showTimer']:
-            self.timer.setShown(False)
 
     def addWidget(self, w, stretch=0):
         self.statusbar.addWidget(w, stretch)
diff --git a/ankiqt/ui/sync.py b/ankiqt/ui/sync.py
index 6ff62a644..1452bf6c3 100644
--- a/ankiqt/ui/sync.py
+++ b/ankiqt/ui/sync.py
@@ -36,8 +36,11 @@ class Sync(QThread):
         self.syncDeck()
 
     def error(self, error):
-        error = self.getErrorMessage(error)
-        self.emit(SIGNAL("showWarning"), error)
+        if error.data.get('type') == 'noResponse':
+            self.emit(SIGNAL("noSyncResponse"))
+        else:
+            error = self.getErrorMessage(error)
+            self.emit(SIGNAL("showWarning"), error)
         if self.onlyMerge:
             # new file needs cleaning up
             self.emit(SIGNAL("cleanNewDeck"))
@@ -50,11 +53,7 @@ class Sync(QThread):
         elif error.data.get('status') == "oldVersion":
             msg=_("The sync protocol has changed. Please upgrade.")
         else:
-            msg=_("""\
-Syncing failed. Please try again in a few minutes.
-If the problem persists, please report it on the forum.
-
-Error: %s""" % `getattr(error, 'data')`)
+            msg=_("Unknown error: %s" % `getattr(error, 'data')`)
         return msg
 
     def connect(self, *args):
diff --git a/designer/addcards.ui b/designer/addcards.ui
index f1d6dab55..1bb20da65 100644
--- a/designer/addcards.ui
+++ b/designer/addcards.ui
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@
   <property name="windowTitle" >
    <string>Add Items</string>
   </property>
+  <property name="windowIcon" >
+   <iconset resource="../icons.qrc" >
+    <normaloff>:/icons/list-add.png</normaloff>:/icons/list-add.png</iconset>
+  </property>
   <layout class="QVBoxLayout" name="verticalLayout" >
    <property name="spacing" >
     <number>0</number>
@@ -93,8 +97,8 @@
        <string>&lt;!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/strict.dtd">
 &lt;html>&lt;head>&lt;meta name="qrichtext" content="1" />&lt;style type="text/css">
 p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; }
-&lt;/style>&lt;/head>&lt;body style=" font-family:'Arial'; font-size:8pt; font-weight:400; font-style:normal;">
-&lt;p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px;">&lt;/p>&lt;/body>&lt;/html></string>
+&lt;/style>&lt;/head>&lt;body style=" font-family:'Sans Serif'; font-size:8pt; font-weight:400; font-style:normal;">
+&lt;p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; font-family:'Arial';">&lt;/p>&lt;/body>&lt;/html></string>
       </property>
      </widget>
     </widget>
diff --git a/designer/cardlist.ui b/designer/cardlist.ui
index 4595230cd..4b6f0b41f 100644
--- a/designer/cardlist.ui
+++ b/designer/cardlist.ui
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@
   <property name="windowTitle" >
    <string>Browse Items</string>
   </property>
+  <property name="windowIcon" >
+   <iconset resource="../icons.qrc" >
+    <normaloff>:/icons/find.png</normaloff>:/icons/find.png</iconset>
+  </property>
   <widget class="QWidget" name="centralwidget" >
    <layout class="QVBoxLayout" name="verticalLayout" >
     <property name="spacing" >